Episcopal's Collaborative College Fair

Four years ago Episcopal’s three college counselors created – on our campus -- the Episcopal Collaborative College Fair for local scholars. Originally, 30 colleges showed up. In 2017, the college counselors added case studies and, in 2018, 50 colleges sent representatives.

Click here to see the list of colleges who were on our campus recently. You will note in-state colleges, such as LSU, LSU Honors College, ULL and Tulane, as well as colleges nationwide, such as MIT and Dartmouth, were engaging our students and other high school scholars from our area.

Episcopal is a “college preparatory” school, according to the big sign on the main Boulevard entrance! The on-campus college fair gives our Upper School students (focused on their sophomore and junior years) and their parents a very “homey” opportunity to learn about the college admissions process from the “horse’s mouth”---the visiting college admissions officers. And, with the Main Gym filled with tables, admissions officers, and brochures, the students have a chance to learn in more-than-internet search-detail about the colleges they may not have an opportunity to visit. Importantly, students have a chance to begin a personalized relationship with college admissions officers.

We run the Collaborative College Fair for local scholars without charging fees to anyone!

Takeaways

So, not only do we have an enviable complete college counseling program(which starts in 8th grade) staffed with three very able college counselors; we have figured out how to bring to our campus a strong cross-section of in-state and out-of-state colleges to meet our students and other high school scholars in the area. This is rare -- very rare.

From my arrival, I insisted that Episcopal’s college counselors construct a strong relationship with LSU. (I like calling it a “warm embrace.”) LSU is important to us for many very obvious reasons. I now serve on LSU’s Ogden Honors College Advisory Board. We have similar feelings about Tulane and other colleges in Louisiana. We understand fully the importance to families to have a good fit --- for the student and for the family finances --- in the choice of a college.

We want our students to have both deep knowledge and choice of colleges. For us, choice includes taking full advantage of TOPS and other college and service academies scholarships---merit, academic, athletic or otherwise.